He was a Tortured Genius. He regularly went Out On A Limb. And now, after battling cancer and New Zealand Cricket and Sky Television and his own demons, Martin Crowe is feeling Raw.
Crowe lets it all out in a book that, as it was written, was obviously a cathartic experience for one of our most interesting sports figures.
It's a mix of straight sports thoughts, intensely personal reflections on his physical health and mental state of mind, and background to some of the clashes he has had within cricket and media circles.
The best bits are where Crowe sticks to the task. His health battles will resonate with many readers, and cricket fans will find plenty of interest in the rise and fall of Cricket Max, and in Crowe's revisit of the Taylor captaincy affair, and in his thoughts on the state of the game.
But there is also an inescapable feeling that the book is heavily padded, that it could easily have been a compact 200 pages and done the job. Instead, the book drags on with nearly 100 pages of Crowe selecting the ''greatest XI'' from all the major nations, and a rather odd, incredibly detailed account of a fictional test between two ''ultimate teams''.
That aside, Raw is worth a look for some insight into how a fascinating man thinks.
- Hayden Meikle is ODT sports editor.
